UH OH: Gas Prices Are Getting Close To The Magic Freak-Out Point

Gas prices yesterday in Cornwall, Connecticut.Business Insider
When oil prices began their big surge about a decade ago, doomsayers immediately began bloviating about how rising gas prices were going to put the smackdown on the economy.

When gas blew through $4, the car companies all suddenly started talking about how it was a new era and they were going to completely redesign their fleets, etc.

And, seeking to defer blame for doing nothing to build up alternative sources of energy for the 30 years since the last oil price spike, Congress immediately blamed "speculators" for the price spike--ignoring the fact that global oil demand had gone through the roof with the growth of China, India, et al.

Then the global economy crashed and oil prices tanked and everyone forgot all about them.

But now oil prices have surged through $100 a barrel again.

And now gas prices are, once again, nearing the magic $4 a gallon freak-out point.